For my Greek Gumma

Happy Valentine's Day.

I've been exploring what makes me happy lately, and I keep arriving at the same truth: loving you is my favorite thing to do.

At first, I questioned myself, wondered if this was obsession, if I was losing myself. But then I realized something deeper. Loving you doesn't separate me from myself. It brings me closer to who I am, because we both love and aspire toward the same version of me. When I channel my energy around this love, I can do great things, not in spite of loving you, but because of it.

You bring out a feminine energy in me: intense love, devotion, softness, things I used to suppress because I thought I had to be different to be strong. But what's wrong with loving someone deeply when it brings out the best in you? Especially when that person is masculine enough to hold it all, to meet you there, to let you be fully yourself?

I notice everything you do, even the things you don't say out loud. The way you subtly check on me even in a crowd makes me feel secure. The way you respect me for who I am, not just in temporary situations. The way you teach me things without ever making me feel small. The way you're fully present in every moment; I deeply admire that about you.

And when you open up softly, when you hold my hand or hold me close and share how something made you feel — those moments mean everything to me. Though I must admit, I also love the moments when words fall away completely and we speak in an entirely different language.

I want you to know: I see your efforts. All of them. I'm grateful for them. I love you as a whole — the good, the flaws, the wild parts, everything. You're great just the way you are.

I want to give you what you need. I want to be your safe space, the one place where you don't have to perform or explain yourself. I want to match your adventurous energy, explore those wild fantasies we whisper about, and keep discovering new ways to drive each other crazy. I want to build a home with you, not just a place, but that feeling of always having something steady (and someone playful) to come back to.

And I promise you this: I won't give up on you, no matter what. I choose you, even when things aren't fair. When you drift, I'll gently pull you back. When things get hard, I'll stay. And when things get boring, I'll make sure they don't.

We've come so far, from that first spark in New York, through distance and misunderstandings, through moments we almost lost each other. But we always found our way back. Each time, it felt like coming home. Our connection is timeless. This bond already knows where it belongs.

Here's to us, to the love that makes me more myself, to exploring everything (and I mean everything) together, and to seeing you happy, healthy, and always as my main character in everything still waiting for us.